


The Dream Must Stay Alive

by h_itoshi



Category: Hey! Say! JUMP
Genre: Angst, Blood and Violence, Character Death, Cheating, Everything that could make a fic explicit, M/M, Outdoor Sex, Post-Apocalypse, There is some fluff too actually, Treat, and some gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:53:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21664774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h_itoshi/pseuds/h_itoshi
Summary: Takaki will always remember the first time he met Chinen. It was almost half a year ago, not too long after everything changed. Takaki often walked along the river, thinking about the people he'd lost. His parents, his siblings, his sister’s kids. How unfair it was that he survived and they didn't. How much he hated living on canned food and rationed water and battery power, with people he barely knew. How much he hatedliving.
Relationships: Chinen Yuri/Takaki Yuya, Chinen Yuri/Yamada Ryosuke
Comments: 15
Kudos: 10
Collections: JUMPing Fic Carnival 2019





	The Dream Must Stay Alive

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. I just saw Takachii and post-apo/dystopian as a prompt and I clearly went crazy with it. Oops. I know it has about every warning people did NOT want to read but I hope SOMEONE will still like it ^^'  
> Worst case, I wrote a treat for myself haha

Takaki pulls his scarf tighter around his neck and tries to relax his tense shoulders. It's only the beginning of October, he shouldn't be this cold already. But the wind biting at his bare fingers and playing with his hair is icy, so he can't help shuddering.

”Are you cold babe?” Inoo asks, raising an eyebrow in disbelief while stealing back the cigarette from between Takaki's fingers. ”Or just scared?”

”It's fucking freezing.” Takaki mutters, but he wants to tell Inoo that they should be scared, considering whose territory they're in.

”I'll miss you when you die from pneumonia this winter.” Inoo says, and his voice is sincere but his smile patronizing, the glow from the cigarette lighting up his eyes under the heavy bangs.

It's not a joke and Takaki just sends him a glare. It's not like Before, when you could survive pretty much anything. Drugs are the hardest thing to come by and pneumonia really will kill you.

Inoo either doesn't notice or ignores him, mindlessly kicking an empty beer can into the wreck of a car left on the sidewalk. It rattles loudly and Takaki tries not to let his nerves show.

They're not far into sector 11, but definitely far enough. These aren't their streets, and even if Inoo seems completely unbothered by that fact, it has Takaki on edge. He knows exactly who rules here and what they're capable of.

But it's not only fear that has his skin prickling like he's being watched. There are things more complicated than that.

”What does Yabu expect us to do here anyway?” Inoo mutters in irritation, breathing out smoke that blows Takaki's direction and he can't wait for the cigarette and its revealing smell to be gone. ”It's not like we can search the entire sector.”

”Yeah.” Takaki agrees, taking the cigarette back from Inoo's passive fingers just to get rid of it faster. And to let the nicotine help calm his nerves. “Daiki could be anywhere.”

Inoo's expression immediately darkens and his fingers fidget in the direction of the knife in his belt. Takaki knows Inoo's worried sick about him, but would never let it show.

Daiki was sent on a scouting mission two days ago, and was expected back that same day. Nobody knew anything of his whereabouts, and Yabu finally sent Takaki and Inoo rather than some useless brat to look for any information about him. Daiki may be loud usually, but not on missions, and he's never been caught before.

“He could.” Inoo agrees, but his tone is sharper and his eyes narrowed. “I swear, if they've got him...”

“Yeah.” Takaki repeats, this time mostly to cut Inoo off. He doesn't need a detailed description of what Inoo would do to anyone who hurt Daiki, especially not right now.

Inoo snatches the cigarette back rather violently, and Takaki lets him. They're closing in on a street corner and he instinctively stops at a noise from further away.

“Do you hear that?” He whispers, but Inoo's already stopped, head tilted in the same direction Takaki's looking while crushing the remains of the cigarette with his boot.

It sounds like a crowd, talking that's impossible to sort out the words in, and then a high pitched female laugh.

Inoo sends Takaki a look, and they start making their way towards the noise, not walking openly in the street anymore but carefully hiding behind the stacks of various trash lining it.

There's an old industrial area in front of them, with a high barbed wire fence and overgrown train tracks on the other side. A train car covered in graffiti still stands on the track, and behind it there's some kind of loading platform belonging to a storage building. And a crowd.

Takaki tries to make out what's going on, but he can't see from this distance, and he jerks at a tug on his sleeve. Inoo nods towards a hole in the fence further away, and Takaki quietly follows him.

It feels wrong to crawl around hiding, because they're usually above that. In their own territory, people cower before them, and Takaki would lie if he said he didn't find sneaking around like this humiliating. But he also doesn't want to die.

The fence makes a low, rattling noise as Inoo slips through the hole, but nobody on the other side hears it, too busy with whatever they're doing. Takaki's scarf gets caught for a second in the loose wires, but there's no extra noise.

The train car protects them from view as they slowly approach the crowd, and Takaki notices the broken door the same moment Inoo seems to see it. It's an old commuting train, Chuo line by the looks of the flaky yellow stripes not covered by spray paint.

Inoo doesn't hesitate before climbing inside, and Takaki quietly wonders if that's such a good idea because anyone could be in there, but he has to stick with Inoo.

The car is empty and abused, the old ads pulled down or covered in spray paint, the stuffing ripped out of the seats and the windows broken.

Inoo carefully steps around the shattered glass and crouches down next to the seat by a door, hidden from view, and Takaki carefully settles next to him.

From here, they can see the crowd clearly, barely 10 metres away, and Takaki would guess there's at least 20 people. They're circled around something, laughing and shouting at each other, and Takaki would assume they were drunk if it wasn't for the strangely excited mood.

“Had enough yet?” A tall, dark haired man calls cheerfully, shaking his hand out from a fist and there's unmistakably blood on it. Takaki squints to see better and notices there are stains on his light jeans jacket too. He knows the man, he'd be stupid not to, and those sharp features lit up with sadistic joy makes Takaki's insides flutter in worry. It's Nakajima Yuto, Yamada's second in command, and he's infamous for his love of toying with his victims.

There's no audible reply, but a girl with long braids laughs in the same high pitched voice they heard earlier, and Yuto's eyebrows rise in surprise as a smile claims his lips.

“Really?!” He calls, and Takaki tries to will the crowd to scatter a little so they can see what's at the center of the circle, even though he already has a pretty good idea.

Inoo impatiently wets his lips and Takaki knows he wants the same thing.

Then suddenly the entire crowd quiets down, enough that there are steps audible on the concrete.

“What's this?” A confident voice speaks up, and Takaki exhales slowly to stay calm, the worry replaced by loathing as he recognizes that voice.

It's easy to tell where Yamada's approaching from even though he's too short to be seen above the crowd, because people take several steps back and move out of his vicinity like repelling magnets.

Suddenly the scene is obvious before them, and Takaki feels Inoo jerking like he instinctively wanted to get over there but caught himself, because they both recognize that camouflage jacket and spiky hair.

Daiki's on his knees on the concrete, face beaten bruised and lip cracked, his breathing shallow and careful and his hands tied behind his back. He's glaring up at the men standing before him, and Takaki feels a strange twinge of pride at the defiance in his eyes.

Yuto is the only one still standing where he was, the rest of the crowd made way for their leader.

Yamada wears necklaces and a black leather jacket, ripped black jeans and heavy Dr. Martens, and Takaki wants to say he's too tiny to be a leader but there's no denying the impression he makes is powerful. He's got big eyes and perfect teeth and dirty, brown hair that still looks like it's meant to be that way, his expression superior and condescending, and Takaki hates him with all his being.

He's standing there with his hands in the pockets of his jacket, leaning back a little with his weight on one leg, watching Daiki with an unimpressed eyebrow raised.

Takaki tries to stay focused, he really does. Look at the interaction, not miss a second of what happens to his friend.

But right there next to Yamada, as always, there's _him_.

Chinen Yuri is even shorter than Yamada, but he's got a slimmer build and looks more proportionate. He's got tight black jeans and a patterned white T-shirt that smells like earth and sweat and gasoline, a thick red and black checkered shirt with rolled up sleeves and black hair hanging into his eyes. His hands rest idly by his sides, and Takaki can see his bracelets, his entire chest tightening so hard he can barely breathe at the glitter of his own mother's silver chain next to the black leather strip.

“He's one of Yabu's.” Yuto informs Yamada, crossing his arms over his chest and looking important as he watches Daiki like he's some sort of vermin.

“Oh I know him.” Yamada brushes it off, slowly tilting his head as he keeps looking at Daiki. “He's that noisy one. What's he doing here though, I wonder?”

“He won't say.” Yuto shrugs. “But I'd say it's pretty obvious. Spying on us and trying to figure out how to take us down.”

“Is that so?” Yamada muses, and even if his tone is soft his expression is cold and he doesn't seem to be blinking as often as a human being should.

Daiki only glares back, but he doesn't say anything.

Inoo shifts next to Takaki and his eyes are desperate as he catches Takaki's. “We have to do something.”

The whisper is so quiet Takaki barely hears it, but he only shakes his head in response because what can they do? It's not like they can barge in among 20 people and think there's any way they're getting out of it alive. If it were 20 normal people, maybe, but not these. They can only hope Daiki's spared.

“What should we do with him?” Yuto asks, looking at Yamada searchingly, but Yamada just shrugs as he keeps looking at Daiki like he couldn't care less.

“Play with him if you want.” Yamada says, and Yuto has time to start grinning before Chinen speaks up and Takaki bites his lip.

“Can I have him? I think he's kinda cute.” There's a hint of a smile on Chinen's soft lips as he looks down at Daiki, and the indifference on Yamada's face is immediately wiped away.

Daiki looks back up at Chinen and then spits blood on the ground before him, his mute reply very obvious, but Chinen's smile only widens into a real one.

It hurts.

Yamada's reaction is much more aggravated as he straightens up and takes a step forward threateningly, making Daiki more or less subconsciously sit back as well as he can.

“How dare you?” Yamada growls, and in a way, Takaki thinks he's right to be furious, but at the same time his heart is beating so hard it's painful in fear for Daiki.

Yamada's eyes quickly scan the crowd gathered in a half circle before him, and then raises his hand towards someone, making a tiny come hither motion with his fingers while his eyes return to fix on Daiki. 

Takaki holds his breath, his heart nearly stopping as Yamada's handed a baseball bat with nails hammered into it, looking like something that only used to exist in zombie shows on TV. Takaki clutches Inoo's shoulder, ready to look away, his chest tight in a hopeless panic of knowing there's nothing he can do.

But then Yamada takes a step back and wordlessly holds the bat out for Chinen, and Takaki can't take his eyes off him.

Chinen looks at it in surprise for a second, but then starts laughing. It's a happy laugh, one that tingles up Takaki's spine and makes his emotions a confused mess as he watches the man he loves grasp the handle of the bat, ready to bring it down on one of his best friends.

He feels hypnotized as he watches Chinen slowly walk forward, his hips swaying and his body under flawless control as always, only stopping as he's right before Daiki.

Inoo's hand grasps for Takaki, clutching a handful of his jacket and tugs like he doesn't know what else to do, but Takaki can't look away as Chinen grasps the handle firmly with both hands, then raises it high for leverage. And bears down.

The thunk is dull and it seems to ring through the silence like a gunshot. The blood splatters up, definitely getting onto Chinen's shirt, and Daiki falls lifeless to the side, curled up in an unnatural position as the blood starts to leak onto the concrete.

Takaki's heart feels like it drops to the floor of the dirty train car and he doesn't know what to do, what feelings to listen to as terror, grief, panic and sick longing all mix in his head.

The bat stuck to what's left of Daiki's head, and the crunchy, metal on bone sound it makes when Chinen wriggles it free makes Takaki wish he was deaf, nausea welling up inside him.

He sees Chinen turn back, sees the red dots sprayed over his black and white T-shirt, and there's a soft smile on his lips as he walks back up to Yamada like what he just did was crush a mosquito.

“Not so cute anymore, is he?” Yamada says, voice dark, and Chinen smiles, then does the unthinkable by gently poking Yamada's nose with his index finger before he returns to his place next to him.

“Don't be jealous, it's not a good look on you.” He says, and Yamada rolls his eyes in irritation.

“Let's go.” He says instead, turning to leave, and Chinen follows, the bloody bat still in his hand.

Yuto sends Daiki's lifeless body a pitying look, like he regrets not playing with him more, but then turns to follow his leader, the rest of the crowd slowly doing the same. Someone kicks Daiki's side as they leave and Takaki feels Inoo twitch, realizing that he's still there with a wave of guilt.

He's still holding onto Inoo's shoulder, and figures that it's for the best since Inoo starts moving as soon as the last person is out of sight, but not out of hearing range.

“Let me go!” Inoo hisses, shrugging Takaki off before he can get a better grip.

Inoo gets up and runs across the broken glass towards the door, not caring what noise he makes, but when Takaki looks out the window again, nobody seems to have heard, so he gets up and follows.

He jumps to the ground soundlessly and rounds the train car just in time to see Inoo fall to his knees on the concrete next to Daiki, dirtying his jeans in the disgustingly large pool of blood.

Takaki easily gets up onto the platform and pauses next to Inoo, looking despite himself as Inoo carefully cradles Daiki's head in his hands and brings it to rest in his lap.

“Dai-chan...” Inoo mumbles, voice shaky with disbelief as he brushes away a soaked strand of hair from Daiki's forehead, leaving a bloody brushstroke on his skin.

Takaki tries not to look too closely, but fails. He sees the deformed head shape, the bloody, jelly like substance that's exposed inside and a clear liquid leaking from a perforated eye, the iris and pupil centered all wrong and he feels sick.

He averts his eyes from Daiki's face, noticing the giant bruise across his Adam's apple and realizes there must have been a reason Daiki never said a word. He firmly keeps looking at Daiki's chest then and tries to will down his urge to throw up.

“I hate him.” Inoo's voice is quiet when he speaks, but the emotion behind his words is so strong that Takaki turns to look at his face.

Inoo's blindly staring down at Daiki in his lap, clearly in his own head as he mindlessly pets Daiki's wet hair. “I'm going to kill that boy for what he did.”

Takaki freezes, mutely watching Inoo's eyes turn determined as he returns to his own body, as he looks up at Takaki with a fire that makes him want to take a step back. Stand between him and Chinen.

“I'm going to fucking kill him!”

Takaki instinctively hushes him, but Inoo doesn't seem to hear it, once again staring at Daiki's mutilated face.

“We have to take him back with us.” Inoo says then, voice much less aggressive, and Takaki opens his mouth to argue, but Inoo clearly senses it. “I'm not going without him.”

“... It's very risky.” Takaki says weakly, but he already knows he's lost.

Inoo looks up, fixing Takaki with his most insane stare, and Takaki had already given in. “I'm not. Going. Without him.”

* * *

Takaki can't help it if he runs. Usually, he tries to stay out of sight, but this time, he doesn't care. It's already dark and he knows nobody followed him, so he doesn't care that he runs. He just wants to get there as soon as possible.

They meet by the riverbank in sector 10. Like always.

Takaki will always remember the first time he met Chinen. It was almost half a year ago, not too long after everything changed. Takaki often walked along the river, thinking about the people he'd lost. His parents, his siblings, his sister's kids. How unfair it was that he survived and they didn't. How much he hated living on canned food and rationed water and battery power, with people he barely knew. How much he hated _living_.

He had none of his friends with him when disaster struck, but after a day or two, he met Hikaru, an old classmate, who knew a place. And so Takaki found himself under Yabu's lead, slowly gaining control of one sector, then two and three.

But despite the unfamiliar position of power, he couldn't help but question what they were doing and for what purpose. And so he often went out to just stroll along the river, the most untouched place left in this part of the city. And one day, there had been a voice behind him.

* * *

“ _Hey.” A soft voice said, and Takaki nearly jumped out of his skin, flying up and brandishing the knife he'd received. But behind him was just a boy, short and definitely younger than him, barely looking 20. He wore a black T-shirt with print, a shirt tied around his waist and a black leather bracelet, and he only smiled at Takaki's knife, slowly sitting down on the decorative stairs a few steps above Takaki._

“ _No need for that, I'm not going to attack you.” He said in that same soft voice, and Takaki felt a little stupid as he slowly put the knife back._

“ _Who are you?” He asked instead, and the boy shrugged._

“ _Chinen.” He replied, slowly eyeing Takaki up and down. “And you?”_

“ _Takaki.” He said, still suspicious but he decided to sit down anyway. “What are you doing here?”_

“ _I'm watching the water.” Chinen replied gently, a depth behind his words and Takaki understood. “I've seen you here before. You always look sad.”_

“ _... I've never seen you here before.” Takaki replied carefully, and Chinen shrugged._

“ _People don't see me if I don't want to be seen.”_

“ _... So you wanted to be seen now?” Takaki asked, looking at the pretty face and the sad eyes watching the river straight ahead._

“ _Yes.” Chinen agreed, the tiniest smile curving his lips as he turned to meet Takaki's eyes. “By you.”_

* * *

Takaki doesn't stop until he's right there, underneath the bridge next to the decorative stairs they first met on. He's out of breath, the air itching in his lungs as he draws it in, and he feels the sweat bead at his hairline from the run. It's dark, since no streetlights work, but there's stars and half a moon providing the dimmest of white lights.

Takaki draws a deep, calming breath, the only sound around him the soft flow of the dirty water passing.

He leans against the metal railing, rests his forearms on top of it and closes his eyes, trying to calm down, but as soon as he's left with his thoughts his mind won't stop spinning. There's just too much inside it.

His head snaps back up at a noise behind him, and he spins around to stare into the darkness under the bridge, squinting to make out anything living.

“Relax. It's just me.” Chinen's voice is gentle, and Takaki almost wants to cry hearing it, the entire mess in his head seeming unimportant when all that matters is him.

Chinen slowly steps out from the shadows, and Takaki can make out his face, the concerned look on it, and he doesn't hesitate before rushing forward to embrace him.

Chinen's hands come up to rest on his back as Takaki holds him close, one arm tight around his waist and the other at the back of his head, tangling fingers in his hair as he desperately breathes him in. He smells the same, smells safe and warm and like everything Takaki needs in this world.

“What's wrong?” Chinen mumbles into Takaki's shoulder, and Takaki squeezes him tighter like everything will be okay if he can just hold Chinen so close it'd be impossible to lose him.

Chinen doesn't push when there's no reply, simply sighs softly against Takaki's brown leather jacket, his whole body relaxing into the embrace as his arms lower to Takaki's waist.

“I saw you.” Takaki finally mumbles into Chinen's hair, his voice shaking the slightest but he can't figure out why.

It takes a second, but then Chinen shifts, pulling back enough to look at him and Takaki lets him. His dark eyes are as deep and wise as they always are, but his expression is confused.

“What?”

“I saw you. Today.” Takaki says, but he can't make himself elaborate.

He sees the realization dawn in Chinen's expression, thankful for once that Chinen's way more intelligent than he'll ever be.

“Oh.” The little noise is mostly breath, and when he looks up at Takaki his eyes are full of pain. “I'm so sorry. He was your friend, wasn't he?”

Takaki can only nod, feeling tears he hasn't shed in months threatening to surface in his eyes, and he doesn't dare speaking.

“I tried to take him away from Yuto.” Chinen mumbles, and Takaki knows Chinen did what he could. Knows that even if it looks like he may have Yamada wrapped around his finger, he really has no say in what happens. “I'm sorry.”

“It's not your fault.” Takaki says, his voice gaining strength as he thinks about who's really to blame. “It's _his_.”

Chinen make a low noise that sounds like approval, but Takaki knows he doesn't want to talk about Yamada. Still, Takaki can't help himself sometimes, not after what he's heard about him. He knows that he's rough with Chinen, that he's possessive and jealous and thinks he's entitled to everything in this world. Knows that Chinen's known him for a long time, even Before, but he never speaks of that.

And Takaki hates him. For how he treats Chinen, for thinking he owns him, but also a little for having him. Yamada's relationship with Chinen is no secret, nothing they have to hide in the shadows of abandoned places. Not like this.

“I wish it didn't have to be like this.” Chinen says, voice quiet and pained, and Takaki wants to make it better, gently cupping Chinen's face in his hands because he knows what he has to say tonight.

“It doesn't have to.” He comforts, and Chinen sighs, his eyes looking a little glossy in the dim moonlight.

“But it does.”

Chinen is stubborn, and Takaki's tried to ask him to come away with him before. He doesn't understand why Chinen needs to stay, why he needs to be bossed around by Yamada when they could just run away from this together. Somewhere where they're not Yabu's Takaki and Yamada's Chinen, but just the two of them. Together.

But this afternoon made things different.

“They plan to kill you.” Takaki finally says, voice barely breath because his entire body protests the words.

He vividly sees Inoo's fury when they returned before his inner eye, how he laid Daiki's body carefully on the floor and looked up at Yabu slowly rising from his seat.

“What happened?” Yabu asked, voice low with anger, and Takaki bit his lip when Inoo started talking, describing the scene they'd seen.

Yabu listened quietly while slowly pacing back and forth like a lion waiting to attack, Hikaru's expression the most dangerous Takaki had ever seen it.

“Who did it?” Yabu finally asked, and Inoo's eyes were black with hate.

“That little fucktoy of his. Chinen.” Inoo's emphasis on the insult burned itself deep into Takaki's mind, destined to keep repeating itself constantly for the hours to come. “I want to kill him.”

“Yes.” Yabu agreed, raising an eyebrow and eyes glowing with revenge. “It'd only be fair.”

Chinen's arms slip a little against Takaki's back and he's brought right back to the present, with Chinen staring at him quietly. “They are?”

“Yeah. We have to go, I can't let them hurt you. If they even...” Takaki breaks off with a sigh, his nerves sparking a little as he once again hears Inoo's hissed “ _fucktoy_ ” in his head, and he just wants to get away, from all the violence, from the prejudice and most of all, from Yamada.

“They won't get me.” Chinen reassures, carefully touching Takaki's face, stroking back the hair behind his ear.

“But what if they do. I can't lose you.” Takaki says, the desperation obvious in his voice and Chinen's arm still around his waist tightens.

“I'll be here Yuya. I promise.” He says, and Takaki wants to shake him for not understanding how much they need to run, leave this mess and everyone in it behind.

“I don't want you to be here. I want you to be with me.” Takaki tells him, voice coming out fiercer than he'd like, and Chinen's lips curve into a small smile.

“I'm here with you?” Chinen's voice is soft, light as he tilts his head and leans up, and Takaki wants to keep arguing but he can't make himself.

Chinen's lips are as soft as his voice, but the emotions behind the kiss are strong, powerful enough to make Takaki weak at the knees.

He feels the metal railing against his back as Chinen pushes closer to him, tongue delving into his mouth as he tries to pull Takaki down, closer, with an arm around his neck. Chinen's kisses are perfect, his lips sliding against Takaki's making warmth spread through his entire body, and he doesn't even care that his neck hurts a little from having to lean down to meet him.

Takaki clutches tightly at him, getting fingers into his hair again to pull a little, tilt his head further back as Takaki kisses him like he deserves to be kissed.

Chinen moans unashamedly at the hair pulling, and Takaki can feel his thigh coming up on the outside of Takaki's, like he's about to climb him.

There's a breeze ruffling Takaki's hair and he remembers how exposed they are, but he doesn't want to leave, doesn't want to let go of Chinen for a second longer than he has to.

And he ends up spinning them around, dragging Chinen back with him into the protective shadows under the bridge.

Chinen easily follows, pushing Takaki down to sit on the cold concrete stairs and climbs into his lap. Chinen's body is a hot contrast to the cold of the concrete, and Takaki pushes up against him as Chinen's mouth finds his again.

He wishes they could be in bed together, lazy, unhurried, touch each other all over, but fuck this is still so good and he'll take it over any of the sluts back home. Takaki's popular, and sometimes he bangs some pretty girl or boy just to keep up appearances. But they're never as good as this.

Chinen's just so desperate for him, kissing him dizzy while grinding his hips into Takaki's and moaning into his mouth like it's all he ever wanted, and it makes Takaki feel powerful. Like he's the only one Chinen wants.

A sharp thrust of hips into his draws a filthy moan from Takaki's lips, and Chinen withdraws from the kiss just in time to hear it. Takaki feels his cheeks flush while Chinen's lips place butterfly light kisses against his neck, his hips not letting up on their dirty rhythm.

Takaki can feel Chinen hard against him, and he's no better, thinking he could probably come in his pants if they just keep doing this. Wouldn't be the first time.

“Yuya?” Chinen breathes against Takaki's temple, and Takaki shivers, his hands grasping tightly onto Chinen's thighs.

“Yes?” He asks, turning his head to brush lips against Chinen's cheek, feeling his hair tickle the bridge of his nose.

“I want to ride you.” The request is new, and Takaki's little noise is one of awe because they've never actually gone that far before. There's been hands and mouths and hips, but Takaki's never been allowed inside Chinen.

“Here?” Is all Takaki manages, his breathing heavy despite himself, because he always imagined that's something they would do once they were free. When they had all the time in the world.

“Right here.” Chinen agrees, purposely rolling his hips slow and hard against Takaki's like he was already riding him, and Takaki's affirmative reply is more of a whine than anything.

It's a little tricky as Chinen kicks off a boot to get his clothes off one leg, but he's flexible and Takaki barely manages to help before he's back in Takaki's lap, his bare erection rubbing against Takaki's shirt.

There's lube handed to him, and Takaki doesn't ask. He grabs Chinen's ass with one hand to spread him open, rubbing his sticky fingers teasingly against his hole before finally breaching inside him.

Chinen's moans are high pitched and beautiful as Takaki growls at the tight heat inside, the contrast of the cold outside air around them making it feel like slipping his fingers into fire. He feels Chinen's thighs tense on either side of his own, feels the goosebumps break out on his bare skin from the chilly wind, but Chinen just arches his back and breathes out his pleasure and Takaki wishes there was more light so he could see better.

He's careful and thorough, slowly increasing the number of fingers while stroking up and down Chinen's bare thigh. Chinen's clutching onto the shoulders of his jacket, scrunching up fabric when he does something particularly good, holding him close and pushing down against Takaki's fingers while making little noises of frustration like he's being unnecessarily slow.

Takaki moans into Chinen's shirt when his body clamps down around his fingers, and he knows Chinen did it on purpose so he retaliates by biting at his chest through the fabric. It causes Chinen to jerk, but the moan is instantaneous after it and Takaki lets his lips tease against his chest over the shirt. His lips bump a stiff nipple, spending a few moments rubbing against it, and he tries not to think about that there's probably still remains of Daiki's brain on this shirt. But not even that idea can turn him off when Chinen's squirming so deliciously in his arms.

“Fuck, Yuya, just-” Chinen gasps, but then Takaki's fingers curl and he cuts himself off with a strangled moan that sounds so good Takaki shivers. “Fuck me.”

Takaki withdraws his fingers and fumbles to get his pants open, not bothering that he gets lube on his clothes as Chinen impatiently rolls his hips a little like he can't help it.

Takaki gets his jeans open and simply pulls his erection from his underwear, rather getting his clothes messy than freezing his ass off, and slathers on some more lube, shuddering as he strokes himself and the substance cools over his sensitive skin.

Chinen's hand reaches down, and together they guide him until the tip of Takaki's erection slips inside Chinen.

Takaki's hands clutch onto Chinen's hips as Chinen immediately starts lowering himself on Takaki's dick, and he's amazed at how strong his thighs are, at his body control as he goes slowly enough to drive Takaki crazy.

Chinen's arms wrap around his neck and his face is pressed into Takaki's hair, his heavy breathing brushing Takaki's ear and he can hear everything, every little hitch of breath or tiny moan he emits as he finally sinks all the way down.

Takaki wants nothing more than to thrust up into the hot heat engulfing him, and his hands on Chinen's hips tighten to try and hold on to some self control. But it earns him a pained hiss and it takes him a moment to realize what happened, until Chinen reaches down to push his hand away from his hip.

“What?” Takaki asks, his voice rough and Chinen moans, completely ignoring his question as he starts rolling his hips and Takaki forgets anything bad ever happened.

It's perfect, hot, messy and dirty, the slick sounds loud in the silence, and Chinen's guttural moans taste as good as they sound as Takaki licks them from his parted lips.

Chinen should dance dirty for a living, Takaki has half a mind to think because the way he rolls his hips in Takaki's lap has him feeling like his entire midsection is on fire. He's running hands up Chinen's thighs and under his shirt, over his ass and back, feeling his muscles tense under his palms and traces the curve of his back as he arches with his fingertips.

Low moans are spilling from Takaki's lips but mostly he's out of breath, feeling dizzy and overwhelmed and he never wants this to end.

But Chinen reaches between them to grasp his own erection that's left a wet spot of precome on Takaki's shirt, fisting himself and groaning low in his throat. Takaki's hand wraps around his much smaller one, helping him out by squeezing tighter and he feels Chinen's cock twitch.

Chinen's noise as he spurts hot over both their hands is something like a choked scream, and Takaki bites his lip, thrusting up a couple times more, feeling his zipper press against Chinen's inner thighs and his underwear moist from the lube, and he comes as well, clutching Chinen tight in his arms.

They breathe together for a couple moments, but Takaki can feel Chinen's thighs shaking on either side of his so he gently pushes him up to let him get into a more comfortable position.

Chinen makes an obscene noise as Takaki slips out of him, the sticky come following his cock making an even worse mess of the front of his underwear, but he's so entranced by the noise that he can't be bothered. Not when Chinen loved it so much.

“Wow.” He mumbles, his voice husky and low, and Chinen shivers as he stands up and starts tugging his clothes back on.

Takaki tucks his own cock back into his underwear and zips up his pants, thinking about how uncomfortable it is for his pants to be this gross and sticky, but figures it was worth it.

He looks up to see Chinen fasten his pants, his T-shirt pulled up a little to reach his belt, and Takaki's eyes are drawn to something dark on his skin, something that makes him reach out and tug Chinen's shirt up properly.

It's a bruise, just across his hip, big, black and suspiciously shaped. Almost like a hand. And it dawns on Takaki why Chinen pushed him away.

“Don't.” Chinen protests, tugging the shirt back down and looks up at Takaki with dark eyes, his cheeks still flushed and hair a little sweaty, but the sated glitter in his eyes is gone in favour of a warning look.

“... Did he do that to you?” Takaki asks, his voice smoothing out from hoarse, post-coital, to something more normal while he watches Chinen lace up his boot.

“And if he did?” Chinen asks, his tone challening but his posture tired as he straightens back up, and he draws a deep breath before his tone softens. “Just leave it Yuya. There's nothing you can do.”

“There is.” Takaki insists, standing up, only feeling a little wobbly as his post-orgasm body hasn't quite understood that it's meant to be back in action already. “Come away with me. Yuri, I'm begging you, can't we just leave? He's not good to you anyway, you've said millions of times that you wish you could be somewhere else. And now, my leader is making plans to kill you, and I can't be there for it. So please, would you go with me?”

Chinen looks at him, the sex flush still on his cheeks making him even more irresistable than ever as he opens his mouth to say something but then changes his mind, heaving a sigh that seems bigger than his lungs can hold.

“I don't know Yuya. I never wanted it to come to this.” He says, so quietly it's barely audible.

“I know.” Takaki says, comforting despite the fact that he wants to yell at him, asking for the hundredth time why leaving Yamada would be so hard. But he knows it's not just about him. It's about a position of power, safety, everything they could need. Except each other. And Takaki's willing to throw himself out there again, into the unknown scrambling for food, water, shelter, if it's to be with Chinen. “But this is where we are now. Please, come with me?”

Chinen bites his lip, and he almost looks like he's going to cry, so Takaki instinctively wraps his arms around him, holding him tight and petting his hair.

It's small, weak, but Takaki picks it up over the sound of the river and the chilly wind. The only word he wants to hear.

“Okay.”

* * *

“Where have _you_ been?”

Takaki jumps at the sudden voice, quickly turning around to face Inoo leaning against the entrance to the restaurant, watching him curiously rather than accusingly despite the obvious puffiness in his face. He's clearly been crying.

“What's it to you?” Takaki asks, grabbing the piece of bread he was considering and a can of peaches. He could get better food, they have people to actually cook, but he doesn't care about that. It's late and he's exhausted, he just wants to eat something he likes and fall asleep.

“You smell like sex.” Inoo says bluntly, tilting his head as he watches Takaki open the can and unceremoniously stab a fork into a peach. “Got a secret lover or something?”

“I just needed something to take my mind off things.” Takaki mutters, popping the half peach into his mouth and tries to enjoy the sweetness like he should despite how Inoo just called him out without knowing.

“So that's why you're eating like a starving street kid? Needed your ration to pay for your whore?” Inoo asks, but it's matter of fact rather than judgemental, and Takaki has to clench his jaw in order not to lash out at Inoo for indirectly calling Chinen a whore.

“Something like that.” He says evasively, and Inoo slowly walks inside to sit down on one of the small tables.

They live in an old shopping mall, and there are several cafes but only one restaurant. They stack food and water here, and keep an emergency stash in the underground grocery store just in case. You don't get very far without food and water supplies in this world, because loyalty costs and the basic needs to survive is the only currency. Even if they get better food the higher up in the hierarchy they are, there are still strict rations to make it last.

“I wish I could take my mind off things.” Inoo says, and his voice is quiet this time, staring blindly at the ugly painting adorning the wall.

“Yeah.” Takaki agrees, and the familiar guilt that only hits him when he's not with Chinen washes over him like a shockwave. At how he could still love someone that killed Inoo's most precious person in the world. Fuck him while he was still wearing Daiki's blood on his shirt. “How are you holding up?”

Inoo shakes his head and draws a long, deep breath. “Better now that I know I'll get revenge.”

“Like you wouldn't still do it if Yabu said no?” Takaki says, because he knows Inoo. And he knows what he'd do himself in a situation like that.

“Of course I would. But my chances of succeeding are higher now.” He says darkly, turning back to look at Takaki when he sets the can down on the counter behind him, appetite suddenly gone. “... Something wrong?”

“Did you settle on anything?” Takaki asks, crossing his arms and ignoring the question.

“Not yet. We're scouting tomorrow, but it won't be long.” Inoo says softly, like he's comforting Takaki by letting him know that, and once again Takaki feels sick with guilt.

“Okay.” He says simply, his eyes resting on a chair next to Inoo as he wonders how many days it could take and when they have to go.

“Hey.” Inoo calls for his attention, and Takaki focuses again, looking up at his face and the small smile there despite the sadness in his eyes. “We'll get them. All of them.”

“Yeah.” Takaki nods slowly. “I want to kill Yamada with my own hands.”

“You're not alone.” Inoo agrees, voice taking on the same fierce tone that Takaki's own tends to do when he talks about Yamada. “But Yabu can handle him, don't you think? Destroy his pretty little face and turn him inside out.”

“I hope he does.” Takaki says, and he really, really means it.

He just hopes he's not there to see it.

* * *

“We should go tomorrow.” Takaki reluctantly breaks the comfortable silence.

Chinen doesn't reply immediately, but his hands tighten so much around the chains of the swing that his knuckles pale for a moment.

“Tomorrow?” He repeats, sounding like it pains him and Takaki wishes there was another way.

“Yeah. Yabu's onto this plan to storm your headquarters and it's only a matter of days.” Takaki explains, and Chinen nods slowly, watching the sand and the weed growing from it slowly pass by under him at his minimal swinging speed.

“Tomorrow it is then.” He agrees, looking up with those dark, beautiful eyes focused on Takaki. “But for now, can we just... Enjoy this last day?”

Takaki nods, relieved at the acceptance and the promise of finally, _finally_ getting away from all this. “Of course. What do you want to do?”

A soft smile slowly spreads on Chinen's lips, and Takaki can't help returning it. “Have fun.”

It's a beautiful autumn afternoon, the trees glowing yellow in the slowly setting sunlight, the air fresh and crisp and Takaki wouldn't trade it for the world.

Chinen can make anything fun, and Takaki's out of breath when he catches up with him after racing each other to the soccer field.

The grass is fake but there are still signs of nature trying to take it back, some weed growing from the cracks in the mat by the goals, where the nets are broken and the frames sprayed with grafitti. It doesn't matter. It's not like they can play properly anyway.

Chinen finds a ball that almost has enough air left in it, and Takaki tries to keep up even if sports was never his favourite. But it feels refreshing to not care about anything but a stupid game and Chinen's smile in the sunlight. Almost like everything is normal and he's 16 again, like his cell phone is about to ring with his mom wanting him home for dinner. Takaki misses his family so much it hurts for a few moments, but at the same time, he's happy that Chinen's there for him now.

Chinen scores a goal and does a perfect backflip to celebrate, while Takaki falls to his hands and knees and exaggerates his loss. It makes Chinen fall to his knees next to him, laughing and tackling him onto his back for a kiss.

Takaki's not sure how long they lie there on the fake grass, kissing and smiling and talking like nothing is wrong and there are no problems in their world.

It's the perfect day and Takaki wants to keep it forever, put the essence of it in a bottle and carry it with him around his neck.

But eventually, it's getting dark and they're sitting together on the stairs where they always meet, silently watching the fading sun glittering in the river.

Takaki's got an arm wrapped around Chinen's shoulders, holding him close to his side with Chinen's head resting on his shoulder, and the moment feels more intimate than most things they've done together.

“I should probably be going.” Takaki mumbles, leaning his own head against Chinen's to feel his hair against his temple.

“Mmm.” Chinen hums softly, but his hand rises from his lap and finds Takaki's on his shoulder, carefully lacing their fingers together.

The next time he speaks, his voice is filled with more passion than Takaki's ever heard it. “Do you have to go back?”

It has something tugging at Takaki's heart, and he considers just giving up everything and leaving with Chinen right now despite not having anything with him but the clothes he's wearing.

“I'm sorry.” He says softly. “We'll meet here tomorrow? And then I'll never have to go back again.”

There's a moment of silence, and Chinen squeezes his hand tightly for a moment, his voice somehow sad. “I guess so.”

Takaki hates that tone, hates hearing Chinen be upset about anything, and he raises his free hand to gently guide Chinen's head to the side and kisses him. It's a soft, lingering, tender kiss, and it makes his chest ache as Chinen's small smile eventually breaks it.

Chinen's looking straight into his eyes, the sadness still there but the smile makes it seem less painful. “Goodbye Yuya.”

“Goodbye.” Takaki replies, squeezing Chinen's hand in his once more before carefully detaching himself and standing up. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Mm.” Chinen nods once, that same smile on his lips as he raises a hand to lazily wave him off. Takaki turns to jump down the last few steps of stairs until he reaches the path, quickly heading back while hoping nobody noticed he was gone.

* * *

Something in the air alerts him even before he turns the corner. He doesn't know what it is, if it's the silence, or something subconscious his brain picks up on, but an irrationally bad feeling suddenly clutches at his insides as he approaches his home.

There are no guards outside the entrance, and Takaki frowns, wondering if something important happened to make them leave their post. The iron gate that seals the entrance during the night isn't drawn, and Takaki reflexively slows his steps, quiets down as he comes closer to the dark, gaping entrance where there should be a lights at this hour.

The smell hits him when he walks inside and into the open area at the center of the mall. The usual smell of home, dinner, cologne and perfume is mixed with a sickening sweet and tangy smell, and on top of it a revolting, rotting stench.

He raises his hand to cover his mouth as he stares into the dimly lit hall and all the bodies littered across the floor like colourful confetti. There's blood everywhere, dark and dried up or gathered in glossy black pools like an artist tried to make an expressionistic painting. Empty staring eyes seem to glow in the pink dusk light falling in through the windows in the ceiling, and Takaki tries not to look too hard because he recognizes so many faces. These are the guards, the kids, the newly taken in ones.

Slaughtered like a pack of animals.

He looks away to try and keep the panic bottled up, bile rising in his throat making him nauseous, but mostly his heart is beating so hard he can hear his pulse in his ears, wondering who the hell could have done this. And what happened to everyone else.

A light catches his eyes and he looks up towards the second floor, seeing a single storefront where there's candlelight and his heart dares to hope. It's Yabu's room.

He carefully makes his way through the bodies on the floor, trying his hardest not to step on anything, or anyone. He doesn't manage, and he hears a crunchy noise as he sets his foot down next to a girl's head but he steels himself and doesn't look down. His shoes feel sticky against the floor, like they would back when he went to clubs Before and someone had spilled a sugary drink, but the association just makes him feel worse.

There's blood trickled down the grooves of one of the still escalators in the centre of the hall, and Takaki looks up only to see a body lying halfway down the top of it, the blood seeming to have come from its neck. Most of the bodies have sliced throats, and deep down he knows who fights like that but he tries his hardest not to acknowledge it.

He chooses the parallel escalator to avoid the body, hurrying up the unmoving steps as quietly as he can while dreading what he's going to find. His eyes are locked to the flickering light throwing shadows on the white walls right in front him, and he tries to stay hopeful. Someone could be alive in there.

He reaches the top of the escalators and throws a hand over his mouth to keep in both the sound and the contents of his stomach.

Hikaru's lying on his side right in front of him, eyes blindly staring in Takaki's direction and face sprinkled with blood from the deep cut in his throat. But that's not the only one, and his T-shirt is slit open with a fleshy wound that has fallen open to expose ribs, like someone tried to cut him up like a slaughtered pig. There's also a deep gush into his abdomen that has intestines falling out and spreading on the floor, spilling stomach contents in a pool around him.

Takaki feels his blood pressure threaten to drop on him, and he closes his eyes, grasping onto the escalator railing as he draws three long, deep breaths, through his mouth to avoid inhaling the stench of death as his hope quickly falters.

If Hikaru's here and Yabu is alive, this is where Yabu would be.

But he doesn't dare keeping his eyes closed for too long, and he forces himself to look straight forward rather than at the floor, and as he determinedly walks towards the store right in front of him, he picks up a strange, rhythmical clicking noise.

He draws the knife from his belt, ready for anything as he draws a final deep breath.

He steps inside the familiar room that looks nothing like the clothing store it once was, but he doesn't recognize it. There are lit candles on the floor and on any horizontal surface, looking scarily like a satanic ritual from a horror movie, but Takaki barely sees that before his eyes zone in on the one person who's staring at him willingly, clearly waiting.

Yamada wets his lips and smiles as he sees him, mindlessly flicking the bloody switchblade in his hands open, and then slowly closes it with a metallic click. The smile is sadistic and his eyes are black with insanity, blood sprayed over his face but mostly on his chin, cheek and in his hair. His hands and the front of his gray T-shirt are covered in the same substance like he's solely responsible for all the death around them. But it can't be only him.

He's sitting down, but not on the floor, and Takaki's heart stops when he realizes what it is. There are bodies on the floor around him, but what Yamada's sitting on is a pile of them, and Takaki recognizes Yabu's arm hanging towards the floor, the expensive wristwatch and the dark leather jacket. He can't take his eyes off the mess of limbs even though he knows he should, because he can make out Yabu's head too, facing down with his face pressed into someone else's shoe, and his heart falls even further as he sees half of Inoo's face behind someone's arm. There must at least four people in that pile.

“Welcome home.” Yamada says sweetly, flicking the switchblade open again and the silver catches the candlelight and gleams, the whole thing so twisted, so impossible that Takaki can't even move. It has to be some kind of nightmare, because there's no way everyone could be wiped out just like that. Takaki left only five or six hours ago and everything was normal, everyone was alive and this was one of the safest places in the city. Nobody could get to them.

But something isn't right, Yamada's eyes not on Takaki anymore, and he freezes as he hears the glass panel that leaves an opening to enter move.

“I'm back.”

That voice shatters Takaki's entire world, and he spins around to stare at Chinen pushing the panel into place, sealing the exit and looking apologetically at Takaki.

Takaki can't breathe, and his hands are shaking so hard he drops his knife with a clatter to the floor, his vision blurry despite there being no tears to cloud it.

_No._

“Yuri?” He gets out, his voice weak and barely a whisper, and Chinen tilts his head and looks at him with pity in his beautiful eyes.

Yamada starts laughing, a hard, cold laugh that seems to rip Takaki's heart right out of his chest as he realizes what happened here. How they knew where to go and when.

“I'm sorry Yuya.” Chinen says softly, and Takaki hates himself for in some delusional world still wanting to forgive him. At least until he goes on, his eyes darting over Takaki's shoulder and there's something in them that Takaki's never seen. An adoration that could even be love, and he realizes like a punch to his stomach that it was never about him. It was always Yamada. “But I wouldn't leave him for the world.”

Takaki's breathing so shallowly he's afraid he might pass out, and he sinks to his knees because his legs won't hold him anymore, terror clawing its way through his chest and throat as he realizes that he did this. All of this death, just for his own selfish delusions.

“Did you really think he was going with you? That's cute.” Yamada laughs, but Takaki hears him like he's miles away, his ears ringing as he stares at Chinen slowly walking around him and up to Yamada without as much as glancing at Takaki. There's blood on his shoes.

Chinen stops right before Yamada, grasping the lapels of Yamada's jacket and tugs to hold him still as he leans in and licks the blood from the corner of Yamada's mouth, making a noise that acutely reminds Takaki of the one he made when he slipped off Takaki's cock and the come dripped out of him.

He watches Yamada catch Chinen's lips because he physically can't make himself look away, watches Chinen tug Yamada closer and lick into his mouth like he could fuse with him if he got close enough.

He's so transfixed by the macabre scene before him he doesn't notice what's happening before Yamada turns his head out of the kiss and Chinen looks down. Yamada's fingers release his curled hand, and Chinen opens it to find the switchblade resting in his palm.

“Take your time baby.” Yamada speaks against Chinen's neck, and Takaki freezes as Chinen's eyes flick up to look straight at him.

There's nothing soft about him anymore as he slowly straightens up and approaches Takaki, every step echoing in the room until he's standing right before him.

Takaki stares up at him, facing his dark eyes and the hint of a smile playing on his lips, the candle light reflecting the determination in his eyes.

“I'm sorry Yuya.” Chinen repeats softly, crouching down before him and Takaki suddenly feels warm heat on his cheek, only after a second realizing that he's crying. “I did like you a lot.”

Chinen leans in and Takaki's eyes automatically close, feeling soft lips kissing away his tear in a moment of hopeless bliss. And then suddenly his head is whipped to the side, his cheek throbbing with a blossoming pain and he tastes blood. He doesn't manage to look up before there's a hand on the side of his head shoving him to the floor, and the impact of his head hitting the stone makes a dull noise and causes white lights to go off before his eyes. He's kicked over to lie on his back, and there's another blow straight into his stomach that makes him curl up reflexively, coughing and whining at the pain.

He feels warmth over his chest then, and even if he could physically fight back, he can't make himself do it.

Chinen straddles his waist, knees holding down his arms, and Takaki blinks up at him through the tears of pain in his eyes, his vision a little unsteady and he feels dizzy, but he can still make out Chinen's shape and focused expression.

His scarf is tugged aside roughly, and then there's a warm palm on his chest right above his heart, feeling the rapid beating of it for a few moments, before Chinen shifts. There's a metallic click and Takaki sees the reflection of the switchblade as it's lowered to his chest, and he's convinced he's going to die right here, right now.

But Chinen's hand on his heart remains, and he feels a tiny sting right outside the warmth of his palm, before Takaki's scream of pain is choked out of him as the blade sinks all the way to the hilt into his chest.

He vaguely hears a low, unfamiliar groan and Chinen's hips make an almost involuntary roll on top of Takaki, but all Takaki senses is the burning in his chest, and he's clawing at the floor and gasping for breath but he can barely find it.

The knife is withdrawn and then inserted again, on the opposite side of Chinen's hand, and then again, and again, until Takaki can only make short, whiny noises and cough for breath, feeling like he's underwater and he can sense the hot blood welling up over his skin at the stab wounds with every breath.

“That's enough.” Yamada's voice is low and husky and Takaki hates him, fuck, he hates him so much it even numbs out the worst pain. “Don't want him to die just yet.”

Chinen obediently pulls the knife out of Takaki's chest with a slick sound as if Takaki's body tried to suck it back in, the silver bracelet Takaki once gave him glittering in the candle light, and then gets off of him in one smooth movement.

Takaki forces himself to turn his head, to watch him return and sees Yamada with his legs spread, bloody hand rubbing slowly over the obvious bulge in his pants.

Chinen sits down next to him on top of the bodies, their eye contact electric as Chinen drops the knife carelessly on the floor before they're kissing like they're the last two people on earth.

Takaki's desperately panting for breath but he can't breathe anymore, the panic growing and his hands come up to his own throat, clawing to try and do anything to make it easier to breathe. He coughs, feeling hot wet liquid coming up like vomit, but he spits out red shiny blood.

His vision starts to fade peripherally, black and white splotches taking over his sight, but he sees Chinen crawl into Yamada's lap, shoving a hand into his open pants and Yamada groans into Chinen's mouth.

Takaki opens his mouth to try and speak, to ask for something, anything, one last look from Chinen. But all that comes out is blood as his vision quickly abandons him.

* * *


End file.
